For the best plants for trough gardens, grow these drought-tolerant perennials, succulents, and alpine plants.
In the trough, you could better mimic the conditions these types of plants need to thrive.
Here are some of the best plants for trough gardens.
Credit: Marilyn Stouffer
This native of the Canary Islands and Morocco thrives indry, sunny conditions.
Kiwi aeonium (A. haworthii’Kiwi') has medium green leaves edged in red and gold.
It is sometimes sold as ‘Tricolor’.
Credit: Jim Krantz
Aloe
Aloesare succulents with clump-forming rosettes.
They gradually spread by sending up offsets near the base of the plant.
It grows only 5 inches tall.
Credit: Edward Gohlich
Hayworth aloe(A. hayworthioides)has warty gray-green leaves, reaching just 3 inches tall.
Partridge-breast aloe(A. variegata)has deep green v-shape leaves splashed with bands of silvery white.
It grows up to 1 foot tall.
Credit: Dean Schoeppner
Alpine Lady’s Mantle
Alpinelady’s mantleis a smaller cousin of regular lady’s mantle.
Like its larger relative, it bears clusters of yellow-green flowers in summer.
Its matlike foliage is deep green above andsilvery underneath.
Credit: Doug Hetherington
Its gray-green foliage is attractive even after flowers have faded.
‘Compacta’ is a semidwarf form that remains under 10 inches tall.
Beardtongue
Low-growingbeardtonguesare wonderful additions to trough gardens.
Credit: Denny Schrock
Their tubular flowers in shades of blue, purple, white, red, or pinkattract hummingbirds.
They tend to be short-lived perennials, especially if not given excellent drainage.
Size:4-16 inches tall; 6-16 inches wide
Zones:4-9
Top Picks:Dwarf hairy penstemon(P. hirsutus var.
Credit: Jerry Pavia
pygmaeus)is a spreading groundcover with fuzzy gray-green leaves and soft lavender flowers flushed with white.
Foothills penstemon(P. heterophyllus)has bright blue or purple flowers on compact plants.
Pineleaf penstemon(P. pinifolius)has needlelike foliage and bears tubular red-orange flowers.
Credit: Marty Ross
They bear blue or white dainty bell-shape blooms.
Dalmatian bellflower(C. portenschlagiana)bears bluish-purple blooms in early summer on a tidy groundcover plant.
Birch Hybrid campanula (C.‘Birch Hybrid’) blooms all summer long if deadheaded.
Credit: Doug Hetherington
Catchfly
Germancatchflyis named for its sticky stems, which sometimes trap or catch small insects.
It’s a late-spring bloomer withhot pink blooms.
This plant loves a hot, dry site.
Credit: Marty Ross
Foliage remains evergreen in most areas.
‘Red Wings’ has rosy red flowers with dark red centers.
‘Emerald Blue’ has lavender-blue blooms.
Credit: Richard Felber
‘May Snow’ has pure-white flowers.
Look for compact forms and creeping groundcover types to use as trough garden plants.
Tiny Rubies dianthus (D. gratianopolitanus’Tiny Rubies') grows 4 inches tall and has deep pink diminutive blooms.
Credit: Denny Schrock
Echeveria
Echeveria is arosette-forming succulentthat adapts well to trough gardens.
Numerous species and varieties are available.
Most have bluish green foliage, but some are flushed with red or purple.
Credit: David McDonald
E.‘Perle von Nurnberg’ has pinkish-purple fleshy leaves in a rosette up to 10 inches across.
E. prolificaforms miniature 1- to 2-inch-wide rosettes tightly packed together, creating a groundcover effect.
E. shavianahas undulating silvery leaves in a rosette 6 inches in diameter.
Credit: Marty Ross
Millenium allium (A.
‘Millenium’) offers gray-green foliage to 1 foot tall and 2-inch-diameter balls of lavender flowers in late summer.
Graptoveria
A hybrid between ghost plant (Graptopetalumspp.)
Credit: Andy Lyons
and echeveria, graptoveriacombines the best qualities of both.
This succulent has thick, fleshy leaves that form an elongated rosette, usually with multiple stems.
Foliage colors range from blue-green to gray-green with pink or purplish overtones.
Credit: Justin Hancock
Size:2-8 inches tall and wide
Top Picks:A Grim One graptoveria (xG.
‘A Grim One’) has lovely silvery pink rosettes tipped in pink.
Tricolor graptoveria (xG.
Credit: Laurie Black
‘Tricolor’) has thick leaves with colors ranging from silver to pink and purple.
Hardy Cyclamen
Hardy cyclamen are miniature versions of the florist’s cyclamen.
They have beautiful leaves, often marked with silver bands or splotches.
Credit: Jerry Pavia
Flowers may be pink, white, or rosy red.
Petals flare upward from a nodding central mouth.
C. coumblooms in winter or early spring with white, pink, or carmine-red blooms.
Credit: Kim Cornelison
Hardy Ice Plant
This succulent groundcover has fleshy, needlelike leaves on creeping stems.
In mid- to late summerhardy ice plantbears hot pink or yellow daisy-shape flowers.
Table Mountain hardy ice plant (D. cooperi’John Profitt') is hardier than the species.
Credit: Bob Stefko
Sutherland’s hardy ice plant(D. sutherlandii)has three-sided fleshy leaves and purplish pink blooms.
Hen-and-Chicks
Hen-and-chicksis a tough succulent groundcover that slowly spreads by producing offsets.
It’s well suited for growing in trough planters because of its shallow root system.
Credit: André Baranowski
It also grows well incracks and crevices in rocksor as part of a green roof garden.
Pink or yellow flower stalks rise to a foot above the foliage.
Cobweb hen-and-chicks(S. arachnoideum)gets its name from the mat of white hairs that covers its leaves.
Credit: Lynn Karlin
Hairy hen-and-chicks(S. ciliosum)also has white hairs covering its stiff, densely packed leaves.
Iris
Dwarf bulbousirisesare well suited to trough gardens.
They bloom in late winter or early spring with yellow, white, or purple flowers.
Credit: Jerry Pavia
Reticulate iris(I. reticulata)bears fragrant purple, blue, or white blooms with yellow blotches.
‘Harmony’ offers deep blue flowers.
‘Purple Gem’ is a popular purple-blooming variety.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
They don’t tolerate moisture around their crowns, so mulch with gravel to promote drying.
Bitterroot(L. rediviva)bears solitary pink or white blooms.
They are closely related to aloes, which they resemble with their thick, fleshy leaves.
Credit: Richard Bloom
It’s sometimes called warty aloe.
Panda Plant
Panda plantis grown for its fuzzy silvery gray leaves tipped with reddish-brown hairs.
It is an easy-care succulent that needs bright light and little moisture to thrive.
Credit: Justin Hancock
Other common names for it include pussy ears and plush plant.
The deep green form is often called Irish moss, and the yellowish version is known as Scotch moss.
Both make excellent trough garden plants, providing an attractive groundcover withdelicate white blooms.
Credit: Julie Sprott
It has slender green leaves on a mat-forming plant with solitary white flowers.
Scotch moss (S. subulata’Aurea') is similar except its leaves are yellow green.
Most varieties have pink or purple flowers in spring.
Credit: Denny Schrock
‘Royal Velvet’ bears large purple blooms.
‘Hartswood Purple’ produces violet flowers.
Saxifrage
Saxifrages are one of the backbone plants of trough gardening.
Credit: Laurie Dickson
Most are compact plants of mountain origin.
Many form rosettes and bear white or pink flowers, although some types produce yellow blooms.
S. burserianahas narrow lance-shape gray-green leaves and bears white cup-shape flowers in early spring.
Sedum
Creepingsedumsadapt well to raised garden troughs.
Flowers may be yellow or pink.
It bears yellow flowers that change to gold then reddish brown with age.
S. lydiumis a mat-forming evergreen groundcover with tightly clustered, rounded, reddish leaves.
Cape Blanco sedum (S. spathulifolium’Cape Blanco') has spoon-shaped silvery leaves and star-shaped yellow flowers.
Silver Nailwort
Silver nailwort is a Mediterranean native that likes hot, dry conditions.
It blooms much of the summer, bearing silver papery bracts that almost cover the creeping plants.
It is an excellent,tough-as-nails groundcoverwith similar landscape uses as thyme.
They are attractive groundcovers with purple, blue, or white flowers in spring or summer.
Heavenly Blue prostrate speedwell (V. prostrata’Heavenly Blue') bears brilliant blue flowers in spring.
Gentian speedwell(V. gentianoides)has cup-shape pale blue flowers in spring.
Thrift
Thriftdevelops tufted plants bearing round, papery flower heads several inches above the grassy foliage.
Flowers may be white, pink, or rosy red.
The plants grow best ingritty, well-drained soil.
‘Alba’ has white flowers.
‘Ruby Glow’ shows off deep pink blooms.
‘Dusseldorf Pride’ bears rose pink blossoms.
Juniper-leaved thrift(A. juniperifolia)forms a tight hummock of spiny green leaves only 2 inches tall.
Thyme
Thymeis a tough herbal groundcover that works well in trough gardens.
Choose compact forms that won’t overwhelm other plants in the trough.
Most bloom in spring or summer with lavender or pink flowers.
Minimus mother of thyme (T. serpyllum’Minimus') forms compact mounds to 2 inches tall with pink flowers.
flowers in early spring.
Choose less vigorous types to prevent the problem.
Forms are available with either white or pink to lavender blooms in spring.
It is slightly less vigorous than the plain species.
It is closely related to perennial blue flax, from which linen is made.
